In English:

Seven churches’ tour – introduction

In July 2018 we made a bus tour of seven churches. We noticed this awesome tour in a local newspaper and loved the idea immediately. The tour lasted all day and it included one coffee with snacks and one meal. One coffee meal we paid ourselves. Tour passed on the southwestern area where I have visited seldom. Our group was big consisting of 50 enthusiasts. On the tour we had two guides. The one, real gentleman, who guided us back and forth to the area. The other was local guide, real Lady, which we picked at the destination. This Lady was specialized in the area and guided us in the churches. She was a real “databank” sharing exact information about churches, their history and even some legends. This was necessary, because churches were old. Six churches, of which one was former monastery church, were stone churches and one wooden church.

Here are churches which we visited: church of Raisio, church of Masku, church of Nousiainen, church of Lemu, church of Askainen, church of Merimasku and church of Naantali.

Church in Merimasku

This beautiful red wooden church is said to be the sixth oldest wooden church in continuous use in Finland. It was built in 1726, but it is the second one on the site. Church is fairly modest, but so what, I find it lovely small church and inside its colors have warm tones. When entering the church, stocks waits for visitors. Officially the use of stocks was denied om May 15, 1848.

Walls are of plank and they are painted in the way, that they resemble marble. The baroque style chair was donated to the church in 1685 from the previous church. Votive ship, trade frigate, is from the early 19th century. I loved its figurehead and this is why I took also close-up of it. The bell tower is from 1769. The beautiful grandfather’s clock is typical of this region and it is also from the early 19th century. The church yard is surrounded by log fence. When entering the area or leaving, there is visible a war memorial. This one is modest, but there also real art works. They are common everywhere in Finland and You can see them when visiting a church in Finland.

Church of Merimasku belongs to the road churches, which means that they are open for visitors in summer time. Inside there is always a guide to serve You. The distance from Helsinki to Turku is 162 km / 101 mi and by rail it takes about two and half hours. From Turku to Merimasku takes about more or less than one hour by bus. After photos, I give some links to those to who want more detailed information.